Checklist: Scholastic Qualifications

USNA is not a college that accepts students based on GPA. It requires a well-rounded individual, one who excels at the scholastic, physical, and mental. Read this post for a general overview of the critical USNA pre-acceptance requirements. Then check these two checklists out:

• Checklist for medical qualifications--are you healthy by USNA standards?
• Checklist for physical qualifications--can your body do what is required of an officer in the Navy?

Now let’s talk about scholastic qualifications. Those who are accepted don’t necessarily have a 4.8 GPA with a 2400 SAT. I’m not sure the Academy even wants that (which isn’t to say they reject that person). Usually, to score that high means you put everything else aside to focus on grades. That’s not the Navy way.

You do, however, have to take the most difficult classes available at your school, be it AP or IB or Honors. You must show the Admissions Board that you have the cerebral engine and the guts to challenge yourself. And you’re pushing your scholastic limits while you engage your physical being and as many other activities as possible. They want a multi-tasker who always rises to the challenge. You want proof? 85% of the Class of 2012 excelled at public speaking/debate/dramatics. How many other Ivy League schools can say that?Read Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton, about the American battle in Afghanistan. You’ll see why we need well-rounded quick-thinkers more than book-smart soldiers.

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist for TeachHUB and Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, and freelance journalist on tech ed topics.